Robert Downey Jr, left, as Hank Palmer and Robert Duvall, as Joseph Palmer in "The Judge."

July 23, 2014
3:21 p.m.

A pair of current award-season contenders that filmed locally last year are screening at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Various South Shore locations doubled for Indiana in the movie “The Judge.” A legal thriller that is set in a small Hoosier town, the movie filmed scenes at Adams Field in Quincy, the Trial Court in Plymouth and Milton and Dedham. It stars Robert Downey Jr., Robert Duvall, Vera Farmiga, Billy Bob Thornton and Leighton Meester

“The Equalizer,” with Denzel Washington, shot scenes in Quincy Square. Sequences involving loud explosions were filmed in the Fore River Shipyard. The movie will have its world premiere in Toronto. In it, Washington plays a retired government intelligence officer who is living a quiet life until an act of kindness to a prostitute gets him involved with Russian mobsters.

The festival, which runs Sept. 4-14, is considered a launch pad for Oscar hopefuls. Just ask Cambridge actor/director Ben Affleck, whose “Argo” premiered at TIFF two years ago and then went on to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.

"The Judge" hits local theaters Oct. 10 and "The Equalizer" on Sept. 26.